"The arc of history is long, but it bends towards freedom" - Attributed to Martin Luther King Jr (sometimes with 'justice' rather than 'freedom') and cited in one of the Bible studies I attended at Assembly.  Given my work on history, this made me think quite a lot.  Is the 'arc' the trajectory and the 'freedom' (or 'justice') the 'end' or 'telos'?  Is the 'bending' the natural shape of the 'arc', or is it something that occurs, perhaps as a result of grace or the 'lure of divine love'?  Is it that history tends towards freedom/justice, or that it it can be bent towards these?  In other words, is freedom inevitable if we wait long enough or must it be worked for?  Could freedom in fact be a subversion of the more self evident trajectory where the powerful and oppressor seem to triumph throughout recorded history?  Is it, in fact, that in Martin Luther King's expression there is an essentially theological understanding, an eschatalogical element, that one day, when all is made new, there will indeed be freedom and justice?  And is the 'now and not yet' of Christ's incoming Kingdom somehow what nudges us to seek freedom now?  And if all this is true, what does it say for the writing and reading of history within the Christian tradition?  All very complicated, and my brain is still too mushy to work it out yet.

So instead, off into some slightly flippant word games with the words 'arc' and 'ark.'

History as being like Noah's ark - the essentials to start a new life after the purging away of a corrupt life, literal or mythological.  I wonder what would be the 'clean animals' and 'unclean animals' we would select to save so that when we founded a new life we had the essentials we need?  What stories, what knowledge, discoveries, objects or technologies would we take into our ark? 

History as like Moses' ark of Covenant - a repository for things that need to be remembered - stone tablets, manna... an elaborately decorated box that has the precise purpose of linking us back to those who went before us, reminding us of their stories (good and not so good) and of God.

Arc as 'bow' - as rainbow - back to Noah!  History as a symbol, a sign, that points beyond itself.  Is that possible?  Is there maybe a covenantal element to history - 'when you see this you will remember...'?  The rainbow as a symbol of covenant is both a pointing back and a pointing forward - because you remember this so the memory should prompt you to do/be that...

If we can/should read/interpret the Bible in covenantal perspective (which seems good to me) might something similar be said of reading/writing/interpretting/applying the past?  Obviously questions of authority emerge but the parallels may be there.

I'm not sure that this makes any real sense, but it's roughly where my mind wandered yesterday. 

Just back from Assembly, exhausted but I've had a good time.  B&B next to the late night disco bar and neighbours having an all nighter out of doors not ideal, but hey, you live and learn.

Some really good Bible studies with Simon and Sean - both made me think - and a very powerful sermon from Alastair Brown that was very focussed on issues of justice and integrity. 

You're probably not meant to admit to liking the handshake experience all that much, but I did!  Being clapped, cheered and whooped as we walked into Prism was fantastic!  Then we were sung to/over and blessed by the whole congregation before we left for the big stage.  OK, so I was front row, centre stage, right behind the big cheese of ministry department himself (or is that little cheese, he's only about my height!) but it was wonderful to look out and see so many people supporting and affirming us after seven (plus) years of blood, sweat and tears, laughter, exhileration and God-moments.  We were told to savour the moment, and I did (let's face it normality returns very quickly in these parts!).  Photos will follow when emailed to me by several kind(?!) readers.

My five minutes in the Small Churches presentation went well, and it was good to see many friends in the audience.

Despite a protracted train ride home (arriving an hour later than advertised) and a good dose of normality waiting for me I am still pretty uplifted.  Two thousand sleep deprived Baptists let loose on an unsuspecting nation - hmm, now that's an interesting thought!

I have just checked the local council results for my ward and district.  Overall the swing is strongly away from Labour to Conservative.  The people I voted for came 6th and 7th in the ward level stage.

Our results are scary - the BNP candidate top.  The white conservative was elected with the non-white conservative coming 5th.  So now we have one Conservative and one BNP councillor for this ward.  The latter troubles me greatly.

How ironic that as the BNP got voted in we were in a pub talking tolerance and respect!  Some serious preaching may now be needed.

Well, we made it!  Our first COMPASS pub-based event happened (despite numerous near misses along the way) and we attracted one person from outside our church (a Seventh Day Adventist whose daughter has converted to Islam) and half a dozen or so eavesdroppers for our discussion around 'faith and faiths.'  The discussion took a while to get going but the Adventist joined in and was very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to.

So, a 'congregation' of 12 plus 6 for a first attempt was pretty good.  It still all feels pretty vulnerable and I'm still doing a swan impression behind the scenes to keep it roughly on track but all in all a good first effort.

I hope the speaker felt it was worthwhile, and that the young trainee PC he brought with him found it helpful.

Now I need to wash the smoke from my lungs before I head to Brighton tomorrow (roll on July and the smoking ban!).

Today was meant to be a gentle prepration for Baptist Assembly, in fact, this week was meant to be quiet.  Silly me.

Omnicompetent horsefly that I am, this week's new skills (so far) have been...

Invoicing Social Services for Lunch Club

Banking Lunch Club money

Mopping up geriatric vomit

Patching up geriatric injuries

Reporting crimes to property (empty church broken into) to Police and insurers

Negotiating with contractors over potential sale of floorboards and light fittings

 

Should I do these things?  No.

And if I don't...  At least the first two were "one off" cover due to pastoral situation

Core Competence Numbers 1068 -1073 or thereabouts (sorry Kez, I Lost count somewhere along the line).